Flocculant polymers can be dissolved in water to form an activated solution. The activated solution can be useful in a variety of systems, e.g., for treating wastewater. The starting material for the polymers, however, is typically cumbersome to handle. For example, it may be time-consuming to dissolve the starting material. Moreover, the starting material may be in a form of a wet gel including sticky or cohesive particles, which can be difficult to handle. Even if dissolved, the polymers are subject to undesirable shear or rupture degradation. Thus, there has developed a need for a polymer dissolution system that can rapidly and efficiently dissolve polymers in water, substantially without shear degradation.